While coaching the Atlanta Falcons in the early 1980s, Dan Henning shared lunch and stories with two football legends: his aggressive mentor Sid Gillman, and the conservative Bobby Dodd.

Henning asked what they wanted in a quarterback.

Gillman wanted a big arm to stretch the field.

Dodd?

“He said, ‘I never concerned myself about how much my quarterback could hurt the other team, I concerned myself with how much he could hurt my team,’” recalls Henning, the Dolphins’ offensive coordinator. “And that’s always stuck with me.”

That’s what fans should understand about the Dolphins’ approach, as they try to get Chad Henne to thoughtfully manage a game without thinking too much and playing stiff, as if programmed.

Where’s the line between too aggressive and too passive?

“It’s different with each quarterback because of his skill set, so you might pressure a guy who has the skill set to be more aggressive, and then you might not with a guy who doesn’t have that skill set,” Henning says. “But you still want him to take shots when they’re there. So it starts with the quarterback, but it also goes back to what are we working with here? Can we protect long enough to do that? Are our receivers good enough to get there? Can they get into the open holes deep?”

But that’s not all.

“And then, in the end, once you get going, you know what your team is like and who is going to be out there, it really comes down to the judgment of the individual,” Henning says. “And that’s what separates the men from the boys. The ones who can take the shots safely and the ones who are indiscriminate. That is a big evaluator. You cannot take indiscriminate shots. And when you do take shots, you need to throw on the margin of error side. Give your receiver the chance to make the big play, other than give them a chance to make any play at all.”

While quarterbacks coach David Lee grades quarterbacks in numerous areas on every snap, Henning grades just two: offensive production and efficiency. How many times could they have made a terrible decision but avoided it? How many times did they have a shot at a big play, and hit it?

“The quarterback is responsible to minimize minus plays in the passing game,” Henning says. “Eliminate them, hopefully. But definitely minimize them. Now, if the protection breaks down, he can’t have a minus play, he’s got to get rid of the ball. If the coverage is real close, he’s got to put the ball on the margin of error, so that either our guy gets it or nobody gets it. If his read takes him someplace he’s not comfortable, he’s got to pull it down and run it or else throw it away. He’s in charge of minimizing minus plays in the passing game. We cannot have sacks, interceptions and turnovers. That’s his job.”

So in the quarterback’s head, he should focus first on being careful?

“No, not in his head,” Henning says. “His foremost thing is to be aggressive. But his instincts have to be built in to keep him from making the team have minus plays in the passing game. You have to be consciously aggressive and instinctually conservative.”

To accomplish this, Henning says that the Dolphins “try to put them in the worst situations and then find out how they’re going to react in that worst situation. Because in the game, there’s no time to get it back. You can’t get it back. And we’ve been efficient here in doing that. We were much more efficient the first year, which is natural, we’ve got a guy who has been at it 11 years, and he doesn’t make that many errors. But now, last year, we’ve had a number of games, the first Jet game was a great example for Chad Henne, no errors with a number of chances to make some errors. And that first Buffalo game. When you think about it, that second New England game, he did a great job.”

How’s Henne doing overall?

“I think he’s a work in progress, although I see him making progress, I don’t see him falling back, when he makes an error he never makes the same thing twice,” Henning says. “So that’s a good sign.”

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(Note: a shorter version of this will appear with my Henne column in Saturday’s newspaper.)

I definitely think the conservative mentality is in Henne’s head, even though Henning claims all that programming they do with him somehow doesn’t reach his head, and in his “head” he’s dan marino. I suspect all this is slowing down his development. That, plus taking him out on 1st downs when he has adreneline and a drive going, and replacing him with the wildcat. He’s being taught to be a game manager, and that’s what we’re seeing on the field. No sparks, just a manager. And he looks very, very stiff.

I was hoping Henning would be gone this year, but Parcells must feel safe with him.

This article has touched on something that’s always bothered me about this offense. Success comes with a history of mistake and disappointment. Henne had some success but still seems tentative. Then I have to stop myself and remember…oh, it’s the preseason. Henning showed little of the offense, Nolan showed little of the defense. As a fan, my hope is that they did not reveal much or were too conservative on purpose. The guard and center situation has always concerned me more because Henne is a pocket passer.

I sometimes think this coaching staff is not aware of its own blind spots in molding a football team. Incognito was always an interesting get, coming from a horrible Rams team. The center position is still unclear, with Grove now doubting the direction of the coaching staff. Jerry is a rookie. They’ve mixed and match, second-guessed, matched some more. They wanted to create depth and flexibility…without creating a solid, first string offensive line to empower Henne to grow. Henne’s growth comes with the development of his offensive line. Everything else is secondary.

This article says it all. The philosophy is backwards. “He said, ‘I never concerned myself about how much my quarterback could hurt the other team, I concerned myself with how much he could hurt my team,’” recalls Henning, the Dolphins’ offensive coordinator. “And that’s always stuck with me.” If the O-coodinator is thinking like that I now understand why they play the way they do in the passing game. They play NOT TO LOSE instead of PLAYING TO WIN – which means you have to be aggressive on offense (see Pats, Colts, Saints). That’s why we can’t move the ball. Say hello to another 8-8 season.

So in the quarterback’s head, he should focus first on being careful?
“No, not in his head,” Henning says. “His foremost thing is to be aggressive. But his instincts have to be built in to keep him from making the team have minus plays in the passing game. You have to be consciously aggressive and instinctually conservative.”

wtf? I mean I know what he is trying to say, but doesn’t some of this come with experience? If he feels a mistake is going to hurt him, doesn’t that naturally make him slower in his decision making process?

If it is me, instead of filling this guys head with you better not’s, I’d be working on fundamentals, and finding his comfort zone in the playbook.

I have to believe Henne is sharp enough to know there are two pretty decent backups behind him. Someone needs to take the pressure off him and let his natural ability take over.

Let’s face it, what Henning was saying was hard to decipher but he appeared to simply say, “be aggressive but don’t be stupid”.

Sounds simple enough.

And let’s face this, no assessment of Henne is reasonable until into 2011. Unless of course he really lights it up or really stinks it up. If he’s “average” no one can say he’ll stay average or get better. Not till 2011. Not till after this, his second, full year.

All you have to do is look at all the QB’s that were “still average” during their second year to know that, and then got better in the third.

I am not really assessing Henne. It is the coaching staff I have some issues with. Specifically on the offensive side of the ball. All the switching of guards, over playing the starters last week, clock management, lack of work on Henne’s QB fundementals. Anyone who watches Henne knows he has the skills to be successful in this league, but he also has some bad habits that he needs to lose. The only way to address this is with tons of repetition. Off season reps, and passing drills should have been a priority all off season. If it was, it is not visable in his play thus far.

A quarterback as inexperienced as he will make some foolish throws, even Marino did at times, but I am strictly talking about his touch, and his feet. He tends to throw off his back foot at times and it causes him to throw wild high. (Without significant pressure)

I’ve spent years coaching QB’s and it is quite plain to see. It is up to the coaches to make sure he gets the repetition he needs, and the support and guidence required to be the best he can be. It is quite difficult to assess and correct yourself as a QB as habits become second nature. The inclination is to not mess with mechanics, but in Henne’s case I think it is nesessary for him to develop into a top tier QB.

I have to agree with others on this blog who say that Henning’s philosophy is killing Henne’s development. If you look at Matt Ryan, Flacco and even the dreaded Sanchez, they were each allowed to go out there and sling the ball, make their mistakes, but learn to lead and win. Henne is being taught not to lose. I hate that mentality in a QB.

Not clear on your “third year” theory…Rivers’ quarterback rating has never gone below 82.4 in the years that he started and he has never had a season in which he threw more interceptions than touchdowns as Henne did last year…of course you forgot to mention Brady who clearly is inconsistent with your theory, though Manning definitely fits (though he took off in year two (90.7 rating), not year three.

Seems to me they’re using the ultra-conscientious make-up of Pennington as their model to mold Henne.
While I believe Henne clearly understands what they want, and no one better than Penny to guide him to it, there comes a point when they need to simply allow him to learn through his mistakes, support him through them, and trust he becomes the best QB he can be.
If he’s not a starting caliber QB, I doubt any refining of his mindset is going to change that fact, and yet they appear hellbent on doing nothing less.
As such, never expect a Marino, or Favre-like style from Henne under this regime, even if he is. Our best bet is to hope he’s the second coming of Phil Simms, or maybe Troy Aikman, even if he isn’t.

I have to say, I rally don’t feel good about this year. It seems these Admin doesnt know what its doing. You let David Martin go so the Bills can pick him up and download all the Dolphins info? They cant figure out who to start where? I sure hope they are playing possum, because if they arent, they resemble that old song…Send in The Clowns!!

Oldelwood,
I remember the 1st few seasons Drew Brees had with the Chargers. He was inconsistant and had his share of interceptions. His QB rating was 67.5 in 2003. A lot of folks, including me, thought he stunk. The following year Drew had his coming out party (2004, QB rating = 104.8). It took him fours to shine. Look at him now.

Offensives rarely look good during preseason. QBs are throwing to a lot of new and different receivers. So their timing is off. It usually takes a few games into the season, with the starting receivers to see how good they really are. I say let’s wait until this season plays out, before we label Chad Henne a bust.

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About the author

MIKE BERARDINO is still living the dream he first hatched as a young boy growing up in South Florida in the ‘70s and ‘80s. He’s writing about sports for a living. Best of all, he’s doing it in a now-crowded South Florida sports landscape teeming with talent, passion and, yes, sometimes even controversy. As the newest sports columnist at the Sun Sentinel, where he’s worked since February 1998, most recently as a Dolphins beat writer, Mike will draw on his many experiences over the years covering virtually every major sport and event. You name it, he’s been on the scene: World Series, Summer and Winter Olympics, Super Bowls, NBA Finals, NCAA Final Fours, BCS Championships, Wimbledon, the Masters, NASCAR Sprint Cup and on and on. Talk about living the dream. And now, with this new role and a daily blog forum for his many ideas and opinions, it just keeps getting better.